See how they stack up: Week 5 college football top 25 rankings

Vinnie Duber

5 months ago

With Week 5 in the books, here’s my top 25.

1. Clemson (5-0)

Marching into Blacksburg against a Virginia Tech D that hadn’t allowed a rushing touchdown, Clemson scored two, part of a 31-point night in which its own D shone with three takeaways, including a pick six.

2. Alabama (5-0)

Bama is amazing. And its schedule will allow that to continue, with Auburn the only ranked opponent left. So maybe every game will look like Saturday’s 66-3 mauling of Ole Miss.

The Frogs were off this weekend, no doubt prepping for next weekend’s huge Big 12 matchup with West Virginia. Here’s to 1,000 points being scored in that game.

5. Penn State (5-0)

It took the Lions just one quarter to completely run away from Indiana. Saquon Barkley had 107 rushing/receiving yards, but the highlight was his 98-yard kick-return TD to open the game. Dude’s good.

6. Georgia (5-0)

So the Dawgs are pretty darn fantastic, going up on Rocky Top and blanking the Vols in a 41-0 shellacking. The Georgia defense took the ball away from Tennessee four times. That’s not fake news.

7. Wisconsin (4-0)

It wasn’t the smoothest of sailing, but the Badgers stayed undefeated with a win over Northwestern. Wisconsin trailed at halftime, but a near-perfect third quarter on both sides of the ball locked in the win.

8. Washington (5-0)

Though I still submit Washington’s schedule has been really soft, it’s outscored its five opponents 220-54. That scoring defense ranks right up there with all these other top-of-the-line teams.

9. Miami (3-0)

I was very impressed by the Canes dominating previously undefeated Duke. The Devils were averaging more than 40 points a game coming in, and the Miami defense kept them out of the end zone.

10. Michigan (4-0)

The Wolverines were off this weekend, allowing Jim Harbaugh to go diving while wearing khakis.

His form is questionable, but his defense remains terrific and will face an unexpectedly 3-1 Michigan State team next weekend.

11. Washington State (5-0)

There weren’t many stories bigger than Wazzu’s upset of USC on the Palouse. Mike Leach and Luke Falk run a hell of an offense, but how about that Cougs defense? Big reason they’re still undefeated.

12. Ohio State (4-1)

Yeah, this is still that same Ohio State team that demolishes opponents — especially when that opponent is Rutgers. A 56-0 throttling ought to keep the Buckeyes in those title discussions.

13. Oklahoma State (4-1)

It was almost back-to-back losses for the Boys, who got a late tie-breaking touchdown run — plus 376 yards and three touchdown passes — from Mason Rudolph to sneak out of Lubbock with a win.

14. Auburn (4-1)

Since the post-Clemson scare against Mercer, Auburn has smoked Missouri and Mississippi State by a combined 100-24 score. More of the same coming against Ole Miss, LSU and Arkansas?

15. Virginia Tech (4-1)

I feel like you can’t blame anyone for losing their undefeated season to Clemson at this point. It happens every week. I fully expect the Hokies to still be good, but you just can’t beat Clemson right now.

16. Florida (3-1)

An eye-popping performance from Florida this weekend. I guess Vandy’s defense was never that good, as the typically low-scoring Gators exploded for 38 points. But of course there’s some more QB drama.

17. West Virginia (3-1)

The Mountaineers were off this weekend, resting up after scoring at least 56 points in three straight games. Think that streak comes to an end next weekend against that TCU defense?

18. Utah (4-0)

The Utes were off this week, but keep in mind that they’re one of just three still-unbeaten teams in the Pac-12. Some real tests coming, though, against Stanford and USC.

19. USC (4-1)

Sam Darnold does some impressive things, no doubt about it, and he nearly kept the Trojans undefeated. But he makes a lot of mistakes, too, now with eight picks, second most in the country.

20. Louisville (4-1)

While everyone was paying attention to other things, Louisville trucked Murray State, with Lamar Jackson racking up 349 passing/rushing yards and four total touchdowns. Ho hum.

21. Notre Dame (4-1)

The Irish went over 500 yards of offense in their blasting of Temple. They’ve scored 139 points in the three games since the loss to Georgia, two of which were road games against Power Five teams.

22. USF (5-0)

The Bulls dropped 61 points on Saturday! That’s a lot of points!

23. San Diego State (5-0)

Not even a grotesque poke in the eyes could stop Rashaad Penny from racking up triple-digit yardage against Northern Illinois.

SDSU also had an 80-plus-yard pick six, one of three interceptions for the D.

24. North Carolina State (4-1)

Two more sacks for Bradley Chubb in NC State’s win over Syracuse. Should be interesting to see the talented defensive lineman go up against Lamar Jackson next week.

25. UCF (3-0)

In a battle of American unbeatens, UCF crushed Memphis, beating a team that dumped 48 points on UCLA by a 40-13 score. The Knights can pile up the points, man, with 139 of them in just three games.

Maryland (3-1)

What a win for the Terps, taking down previously unbeaten Minnesota on the road behind third-string quarterback Max Bortenschlager, college football’s most fun name to say with a German accent.

Stanford (3-2)

I fully believe Stanford is the best two-loss team in the country, mostly because Bryce Love is absolutely amazing. He went off for a school-record 301 yards and three touchdowns this weekend.

Texas Tech (3-1)

A mighty fine showing from the Red Raiders in nearly upsetting Okie State. Nic Shimonek can sling like any good Texas Tech quarterback should, and maybe the Raiders put some more teams on upset alert.

Oregon (4-1)

The Ducks have the highest-scoring offense in college football. But they also have a head-scratching loss to Arizona State and now a serious injury to starting quarterback Justin Herbert.

Duke (4-1)

The Dukies got destroyed by Miami this weekend, bringing their undefeated start to an end. We’ll see where Duke goes from here. It should be a win against Virginia.

Georgia Tech (3-1)

North Carolina is a shell of itself, but still an impressive blowout win for the Jackets, with TaQuon Marshall and Kirvonte Benson combining for 267 rushing yards.